A 1976 pharmacy where communism meets cough syrup — and it actually works.
Filmed inside Pharmacy No. 3 in Shanghai, Joris Ivens and Marceline Loridan-Ivens document the daily work of a state pharmacy that functions as both a dispensary and a neighborhood medical center. The film focuses on routine interactions between staff and patients, revealing an integrated model of urban healthcare in 1970s China.
Direction
Ivens finds poetry in prescription forms and queue etiquette.
Cinematography
Candid 16mm captures 1976 Shanghai without propaganda gloss.
Director
Joris Ivens
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during the final months of Mao's life, the film captures a healthcare model that would be dismantled by market reforms within a decade.
Marceline Loridan-Ivens — co-director and Joris's wife — survived Auschwitz and later directed her own acclaimed documentaries.
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